Three Rings
by fuer grissa ost drauka
Summary: A fic inspired by the song 'Austin' by Blake Shelton. Clois. Please R&R. COMPLETED!
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **_Three Rings_

**Author: **_Fuer Grissa Ost Drauka_

**Pairing: **_Clois (of course)_

**Spoilers: **_none_

**Disclaimer: **_don't own any of it_

**Feedback: **_always appreciated_

**A/N: **_this fic was inspired by the song 'Austin' by Blake Shelton_

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**Part 1:**

"You never did tell me why you left," Chloe said, looking pointedly at Lois over the top of her coffee mug.

"I needed some time to think," Lois said, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Lois, you left over a year ago."

Lois shrugged. "I've had a lot to think about." There was a long pause before she continued. "Besides, he's probably moved on anyways, after all, it has been over a year."

Chloe stared long and hard at her cousin before placing her mug on the table and held out her hand towards Lois. "Give me your phone for a minute."

"What? Why?" Lois asked, surprised by the request.

"I'm proving you wrong."

Lois sighed deeply and handed Chloe the cordless phone. "Just how do you suppose you're going to prove me wrong?"

"Every few days, Clark changes the message on his answering machine."

"So what. People change their recordings all the time."

Chloe dialed Clark's number and handed the phone to Lois, who attempted to refuse it.

"Relax, Lois, he's not even home right now. Just listen to the recording."

Lois sighed slightly in resignation and accepted the phone. After the third ring, Clark's answering machine picked up.

_Hey, this is Clark. If you're calling about the spare room, it's no longer available, and if this is Monday night, I'm working on something for the Ledger. Leave a message after the beep and I'll get back to you when I get in. And, if this is Lois… I still love you._

Chloe caught the phone as it fell from Lois's hand and ended the call. "Lois?" Chloe

asked her shell-shocked cousin.

Lois got up from the couch and started pacing around the room, mumbling something about it being an old message.

"Lois, that's a new message," Chloe said.

"That's impossible; it's been over a year," Lois protested.

"Lois, Clark changes the message on his answering machine every few days, but he says something like, 'If this is Lois, I still love you.' on every single message he's had since you left."

"No normal guy would be hanging on to a relationship for this long."

"We both know that Clark Kent isn't exactly a _normal guy_."

Lois found her way back to the couch and sank down into it. "Yeah."

"I've gotta get going, Lois. I have a class tomorrow," Chloe said as she stood. "Besides, I think I gave you enough to think about for a while. Just, think quickly, and stop running, Lois."

"I- I'm not-" Lois protested, only to be cut off by Chloe.

"No, Lois. You got scared and ran. There's nothing wrong with being scared, but you need to stop running and face your fears." Chloe took a breath, "At least think about what I said, all right?"

"Okay, cuz. See you soon," Lois said as she stood and gave Chloe a hug good-bye.

* * *

Lois sat, curled up, on the sofa, clad in a pair of baggy sweatpants and an equally baggy sweatshirt. In one hand was a spoon and in the other was a carton of chocolate ice cream - a necessity for this kind of heavy thinking. It had been four days since she and Chloe had their talk about the one subject she had been avoiding giving too much thought to for a long time. Their talk, however, had put to rest the question she hadn't wanted to face: _Was Clark still in love with her? _Now that she knew the answer to that question was 'yes', a new question arose - becoming the main cause of the sleepless nights she'd been having for the past few nights. _What was her next move?_

Finding a new and surprising resolve, Lois got up and put the carton of ice cream in the freezer and tossed the spoon into the sink. She walked back into the living room and picked up her phone. She dialed Clark's number, having no clue what she'd say when he answered - if he answered. At the third ring, Clark's answering machine picked up once again.

_Hey, this is Clark. I'm on a camping trip right now with Pete and my dad, but leave a message and I'll get back to you when I get in on Sunday night. And, Lois, if that's you, I still love you._

As soon as she heard the 'beep', Lois left a short message with little more than her name and number. She turned off her phone and placed it back on the charger. Now, she just had to wait until Sunday night to see if Clark would return her call.

* * *

Clark and Pete got out of the truck and grabbed their camping gear from the back. "You can take my room," Clark said as they walked through the front door of his apartment.

"You sure man?"

"Yeah, it's no problem," Clark said, setting his gear down next to the sofa. As Pete went into the bedroom, Clark went over to the answering machine and pressed the playback button.

_You have one new message,_ the machine informed him.

Clark walked into the kitchen area and got himself a glass of water as the message began to play.

_Hey,_

Clark froze. The glass of water fell from his hand, shattering as it hit the floor.

_It's Lois. Uh, give me a call when you get in. My number's: 533-1701. Bye, Smallville._

Clark cleaned up the shattered mess at superspeed before speeding over to the phone and dialing Lois' number.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2:**

'The whole talk with Clark had gone _very_ well,' Lois mused. 'Finally,' she thought as she located the coffee filters. "Found them," she said triumphantly, turning towards where Clark was… sleeping. "Figures," she muttered as she put the filters back on the shelf.

Lois walked over to the couch and sank down next to Clark, leaning back against his chest. His arm wrapped around her waist, holding her close as he dropped a gentle kiss on her neck. Lois turned in his arms, so that she was facing him, and closed the gap between them.

She wrapped her arms around Clark's neck as he floated them a few feet off the couch, rotated in mid-air, and lowered them back to the couch. After a few minutes, Lois pushed him off of her, and he fell to the floor with a slight 'thud'.

Clark propped himself up on one elbow and looked at Lois in confusion. With a slight grin, she slid off the couch and straddled Clark's waist. She leaned down, her lips lightly brushing against his in a teasing manner, and began to slowly unbutton his flannel shirt.

Lois heard a faint ringing noise and looked up in surprise. When she looked down at Clark, she was shocked to see him rapidly fading away. The ringing was louder this time, completely waking Lois. She got up from the floor and began looking for the phone. When it rang again, she was able to locate it. "Hello?" she asked, her tone laced with mild annoyance. After a few seconds, when no one responded, she began to get even more aggravated. "Look. Whoever you are, you just woke me up from a _really_ nice dream, so if you don't want me to hang up on you, you'd better start talking within the next three seconds."

"Hi," came a soft voice from the other line.

In that instant, Lois could've sworn that the whole world stopped. The next few seconds seemed like an eternity as she tried to calm her racing heart and regain control of her voice.

"Hey," she said as she found her voice again. A long, uncomfortable silence passed between them. Lois sighed lightly. This distance between them was her fault; she needed to be the one to take the first step in bridging the gap that she had created. "Can you come over, Clark - so we can talk?

_TBC…_

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**_Thanks for the feedback. I know this update is short, but I wanted to get it out so I could work on what will probably be the final part._**


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3:**

"Coming!" Lois shouted as she ran to the door. After undoing all the locks, she opened the door to reveal a nervous looking Clark. She stood there in stunned silence as she took in his appearance. "You look…" she paused as a stream of adjectives flooded her mind. Handsome, attractive, impressive, and incredibly hot were just a few that came to mind. "Different," she finally said.

"I figured it was time for a change," he said simply.

"What's with the glasses though? I thought you had 'better than perfect' vision?"

"What, you don't like my glasses?" he asked with an impish grin as he pushed the frames up a bit.

"No, it's not that," she quickly assured him. "It's just… your mom told you about the geeks in glasses thing, didn't she?"

"Geeks in glasses thing?" Clark asked, genuinely confused.

"Never mind," Lois said, blushing furiously. "You wanna come in?" she asked as she realized they were still standing in the doorway.

"Uhh, sure," Clark said awkwardly as he stepped into Lois' apartment.

"It's good to see you again, Clark," Lois said as she shut the door behind them.

"I missed you, Lo," Clark said quietly.

An awkward silence settled between them as they each picked a spot on the floor to become fascinated with.

'Again with the awkward silences,' Lois thought. 'Okay, Lois, you can fix this. That's what you invited him over for.'

"So…" she began nervously, not sure how to proceed.

"So…" Clark said - obviously having no idea either.

"Drinks!" Lois said suddenly, startling Clark. "Drinks are good! I'm gonna get a drink. Do you want a drink?"

Clark watched in awe as Lois became a whirlwind, spouting random thoughts as she strode into the kitchen. "Uhh… sure, I guess."

"Great! Drinks are good." She opened up the cupboard and surveyed its contents. "Ok. I've got some twenty-five year old Macallan scotch; Booker's whiskey; Patron, silver tequila; Crater Lake vodka; Tan queray10 gin; Hart Demerara rum; and a bottle of 10 year old Glenkinchie scotch. So, name your poison."

"Do you have anything other than hard liquor?"

"C'mon, Clark. Live a little. It's not like this stuff affects you anyways." Lois got out the bottle of Crater Lake vodka and two shot glasses. She poured the liquor into the glasses and passed one over to Clark.

"I guess it won't hurt," Clark said before downing it like it was water.

Lois threw back her own shot just as easily and poured them each another one.

* * *

"Lois, don't you think you've had enough to drink?" Clark asked for the third time as she took the twenty-five year old scotch out of the cupboard.

"You need to relax, Clarkie. Loosen up a bit."

"Lois, you're drunk."

"Nonsense," she scoffed. "It takes more than a mere bottle of vodka to get Lois Lane drunk."

"You also finished off that bottle of whiskey before I got here."

"I forgot about that, but there was barely anything in it. Not even enough to fill up a shot glass."

"You are so drunk, Lois."

"Maybe just a little," she conceded.

"I'll make some coffee," he said as he took the scotch away from her and put it back in the cupboard. "Where do you keep the coffee filters, Lois?"

"Filters?" A broad grin spread across her face. "Top shelf, Clarkie.

"What's so funny?" Clark asked when he noticed her grin.

"I had a dream about coffee."

"Ok," Clark said, not quite sure what to make of that. "Sound… interesting."

Lois silently walked up behind Clark and slipped her hands under the front of his shirt, feeling the toned muscles that were hidden beneath it. "You have no idea," she whispered seductively into his ear.

Clark froze and his eyes widened drastically in shock and a good amount of fear. He gently pulled her wandering hands out from underneath his shirt and turned to face her. "Lois, you're drunk."

"Maybe I am, or maybe I'm just doing what I should've done a long time ago," she said as she maneuvered Clark into the living room.

"Lois, I thought you wanted to talk?" The predatory gleam in her eyes caused him to keep backing up until his foot hit the couch.

"Talking's highly overrated," she said before pushing him into the couch.

"Lois, please don't make this any harder than it already is."

"Clark, we both know you want this to happen just as much as I do."

"No. Well, yes, but I'm not going to take advantage of you, Lois."

"That's just it, Clark, you're _not_ taking advantage of me because I want this too," she sank down onto the couch next to him.

"Lois," he said, taking her hands in his, "I wouldn't feel right doing this when you're drunk - not to mention all the unresolved issues between us."

"Fine, if it'll make you more comfortable, we can wait until there are no more unresolved issues between us and I'm not drunk. Okay, Smallville?" she asked in an almost patronizing tone.

Clark nodded. "You should get some sleep, it'll help. We can talk about - whatever it was you wanted to talk about - in the morning."

"Oh, like you'd really know what's good for when you're drunk," Lois said sarcastically. "You can't even get drunk."

"True, but I've been around you long enough when you're drunk to know what helps you," he pointed out with a slight grin.

Lois couldn't help the small smile that fought its way onto her face. She leaned against Clark's chest and pulled his arm around her. "I love you, Clark."

Clark smiled down at her as he pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over her sleeping form. "I love you too, Lois," he said quietly and dropped a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I missed you so much," he added, watching her sleep.

He still remembered that day as if it was yesterday, and yet it seemed like a lifetime had passed since…

_TBC…_

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_**A/N:** okay, i decided to extend this story. there will be one or two more updates for this story. Thank you all for your reviews._


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4:**

**-------****July 2007-------**

A beaming smile lit Clark's face as he sat up and stretched the sleep out of his muscles. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, birds were chirping, and just last night he had given Lois _the bracelet_. 'Everything's perfect,' Clark reflected with a contented smile.

He walked into the kitchen; got out a frying pan, eggs, and sausages; and proceeded to cook breakfast with his heat vision. Clark had just finished setting the table when he noticed a folded piece of paper with his name on it, lying at the center of the table.

Curiously, he picked up the note and began reading it.

Dear Clark,

I'm not sure how to say this, so I'll just come out and say it as directly as possible. I have to leave. I've got a lot of things to think about, and I can't do that here. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone - heck, I don't even know where I'll be going. Please don't try to contact me; once I've got everything all sorted out, I'll contact you again.

- (love) Lois

_(Author's Note: the word 'love' is supposed to be crossed out.)_

Clark ran upstairs to Lois' room, hoping that the letter was some kind of joke or that she wouldn't have left yet.

His heart dropped as he threw the door open. Everything that belonged to Lois was gone, the only indication that she had ever lived there was the dresser drawer that hadn't been pushed in all the way. In an almost trance-like state, Clark walked over to the drawer. What he saw there, lying in the empty drawer, brought tears that stung the corners of his eyes. Clark wasn't sure how long he just stood, motionless, staring at it before he hesitantly picked it up.

He took a few steps backwards and sank down to the floor with his back up against the bed.

* * *

Martha walked into the bedroom. When she noticed Clark on the floor, turning the bracelet over and over in his hands, she sat down next to him and pulled him into her arms. "Clark? What's wrong?"

"Lois is gone."

"What do you mean 'gone', Clark?"

Clark just handed her the note. Martha wrapped her arms more tightly around Clark after reading it. "I'm sure she'll be back, Clark. She probably just needed time to think - just like she said."

Clark shook his head. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have given her the bracelet. I should have know she wasn't ready."

"Honey, it's not your fault. You had no way of knowing what Lois' reaction would be - you don't even know if that's why she left."

"Yes, I do," he said sadly.

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Clark gently pushed Lois' hair off of her face. It had taken him a few days to realize that Lois was just scared to accept that she needed to come to terms with that fear on her own.

_TBC…_

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_Thanks for all the feedback, everyone. The next part should be up within a week or so._

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	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5:**

Lois pressed her hand against her forehead in a futile attempt to stop the jackhammer that was pounding against her skull. 'I need an aspirin,' she thought as she started to sit up - only to find herself restrained by a pair of arms. Lois froze and tried to remember what had happened last night.

Clark! Clark had come over. It had to be Clark's arms she was in. Lois chanced a glance behind herself and let out a relieved breath when she saw him, still asleep.

Lois carefully extracted herself from his arms and stumbled over to the kitchen. After downing two aspirin and a glass of water, she walked back over to the couch, but instead of laying back down with Clark, she sat on the coffee table across from him. She pushed back the lock of hair that rested on his forehead - like always - and smiled slightly when it fell back to its previous position a moment later.

**

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Flashback: July 2007

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Lois stared at the bracelet in her hands. 'How can something as small as this mean so much?' She wondered as she turned the object over in her hands. He hadn't told her what the bracelet meant, but she had recognized it from the paintings in the caves. The fact that he gave it to her meant that he thought she was his soul mate, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her; and that scared her. No, that wasn't exactly true. What scared her the most was that she could see herself spending the rest of her life with him.

Lois opened a dresser drawer and gently set the bracelet in it, knowing Clark would find it there. She picked up her duffel bag by the door and with one last look around her- Clark's room, Lois closed the door and went downstairs. She pulled the folded not out of her bag and set it on the table before making her way over to the couch where Clark was sleeping.

Lois lightly kissed Clark's forehead and brushed back the lock of hair that rested on his forehead, only to have it rebelliously fall back to its original resting place. She glanced quickly out the window. The sun was up, and if she wanted to leave before Clark woke up, she needed to leave soon.

As she drove away from the Kent farm, she looked back at the house with the rear view mirror.

_Mix sheer hypocrisy with mediocrity_

_You'll play it safe every time-_

_So life turns up empty_

_And you're so dissatisfied_

_Who are you blaming this time?_

_Don't you know?_

Lois quickly turned off the radio and focused her attention on the road ahead, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall.

**

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End of Flashback.

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**

Clark awoke to the sound of smoke detectors ringing throughout Lois' apartment. He ran at near superhuman speeds into the kitchen to find Lois trying to subdue the flames that had engulfed the coffee machine. Clark quickly blew out the flames and rushed over to Lois. "Are you okay," he asked as he took Lois' hands in his, checking them for burns.

"I'm fine. How did you?" she asked with a slightly confused look.

"Superbreath," he explained quickly. ""I got it about seven months ago."

"Oh," Lois said quietly as she stared down at her hands, which were still in Clark's.

"Do I even want to ask how you managed to set fire to the coffee maker?" he asked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

She looked up at him with a slight grin. "Probably not."

"Here, I'll clean this up. _Real quick_," he added with a grin.

Lois watched as Clark became a blue and black blur, moving throughout the kitchen before flying out the window. She smiled slightly and shook her head in amazement. No matter how many times he did some super-human feat, it always stunned her.

* * *

Clark landed silently in the kitchen and handed Lois a Styrofoam cup before sitting next to her on the couch. She took a cautious sip of the hot liquid, "I'm surprised you remembered how I like my coffee."

Clark just shrugged. "I have a really good memory."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Lois broke it. "I really messed this up, didn't I?" she asked, staring down at the coffee cup in her hands.

"Lois, it's not _that_ bad. Sure, I may not understand how you set the coffee maker on fire, but, hey, that's what Starbucks is for."

She shook her head slightly. "Not the coffee. I meant us. I really screwed things up between us - and don't try to tell me I didn't, Clark, because I did," she added when she saw him open his mouth to protest.

Clark pulled her into a comforting embrace and felt her relax against him. "Lois, it's okay. I get it - really. It was too much, too soon for you."

"No, it wasn't. My head just didn't know that at the time."

"But it does now?" He had barely gotten that out when Lois pulled him down into a mind-numbing kiss.

She pulled away just enough to look up at him with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "Does that answer your question."

Clark grinned down at her before nodding and closing the distance between them once more.

**The End.**

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The song is _You Don't Know_ by Cyndi Lauper.

_It's finally over. A big thanks to all who have reviewed._


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